The Week In Review

There were several things that I wanted to blog about this week, but I never got around to it. So I'm just going to inundate you with bloggy goodness, and give you 2-3 posts smashed into one. I know, you're so excited you can hardly stand it. So fasten your seat belts, folks, and get ready for the Reader's Digest condensed version of our week.....

First, I have to brag on my Mason. I had a conference with his teacher on Tuesday, and it was AWESOME!!! You may remember that scholarly pursuits haven't always been Mason's strong suit. As smart as he is, he still struggles with focus and motivation. But lately, he's made great strides with that. His teacher said he's showing such maturity, and that his work is truly starting to reflect his ability. She said that my smart baby sets the bar high for his classmates and is a great role model!! (I was concerned for a moment there that she was talking about the right child. There is another Mason in his class, but she swears it's mine!)

Mason apparently really likes math- a skill that certainly didn't come from me! He likes numbers, and he enjoys being challenged by math. I was starting to question if this math-lover had been switched at birth when Miss Anne mentioned that he's a fantastic reader. (Whew, he is mine!) She said that he's a very expressive reader, and that he loves non-fiction. This came as a surprise to me. He's never mentioned it, and I'm strictly fiction (with a biography thrown in here and there) so I always got him fiction books from the library. Well, after hearing that helpful hint, I went straight to the library and got him a stack on non-fiction books in topics I know he likes. My smarty-pants read them all as soon as he got home, and I had to take him back to the library after dinner to check out more!

Okay, enough bragging. But seriously, I was soooooo proud. Speaking as a mom and as a former teacher, I thought my heart might burst with pride and joy. As parents, Matt and I make PLENTY of mistakes, but here's solid proof that we're doing something right!

Part 2- the twins' preschool Easter party.

Oh lord, that was an adventure. My beloved three hours of kid-free time was drastically reduced by the preschool Easter egg hunt/party. By the time I got home after dropping them off, I had basically an hour before I had to head back to school. Boo!!!! I thought about being a lame mom and skipping it, but no, I went. Had I known what was in store for me, I would have brought reinforcements.

I figured the egg hunt would be on the playground, an enclosed area, and would be no big deal. Alas, I was wrong. Other groups were using the playground, so their class egg hunt was in an open area bordered by a parking lot and a steep ravine. It took Will approximately 3 minutes to discover the edge of the ravine (I know, he must be slipping. Danger Mouse would usually discover something like that in less than 30 seconds!) So I alternated between helping them find eggs and keeping them from tumbling down the hill and/or dashing into the parking lot. Sigh....

The classroom party was actually fine. There was food, so they were occupied. I even got a full five minutes to talk to another mom!! The trouble came when we were leaving. The school's director had brought her pet bunny. All the kids were fascinated, and loved petting the bunny through the bars of the cage. But at the end of the day, Miss Cheryl let the bunny out.

That poor bunny was swarmed by toddlers. The rabbit did amazingly well. Seriously, I think she tranquilized that thing, because it was incredibly calm in the face of preschooler madness. My boys loved petting the bunny- for about three minutes. Then they wanted to climb on the cage, play with the bunny's water bottle, carry the bowl of water to the bunny and try to make him drink it.... All you could hear was, "No Will! Stop, Hays! Put that back!!!" I pretty much had to drag them out kicking and screaming, but we survived. And more importantly, so did the bunny.

Part 3- Easter

Today was Easter. I would have pictures, but alas, my camera is messed up. We had a VERY low-key day. We had a kind offer from Matt's mom to have Easter dinner at her house, but I wasn't up to attempting to make the kids behave like humans, so we declined and I made Easter dinner at home. It's a good thing I did, because after a morning of watching a Sesame Street video where kids are encouraged to eat like Cookie Monster, that's what my twins did with their lunch. Yeah, it was as gross as you'd imagine, so I'm glad we didn't subject anyone else to that horror.

We managed to make it out to my aunt's house this afternoon. My cousins and their twins are visiting, so we got all the kids together for an egg hunt and outdoor fun. They all had a really good time, and completely wore themselves out. All in all, I felt like we'd observed Easter in the appropriate fashion. Okay, not really appropriate- we didn't even attempt church. But we celebrated in all the secular ways, and we ate ham and deviled eggs, so there you go.

So there. Three blog stories in one epically long post. I hope that makes up for neglecting you all week. And I hope that you all had a great Easter, surrounded by people you love!!